Bob Hartley was fired as coach of the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
The Flames finished fifth in the Pacific Division, and 10 points behind the Minnesota Wild for the final wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference this season after making the playoffs in 2014-15. Hartley won the Jack Adams Award as the League's top coach last season.
Hartley was 134-135-25 with the one playoff appearance in four seasons with Calgary. In 13 seasons as a coach with the Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Atlanta Thrashers, Hartley is 463-361-59 with 61 ties in 944 games. He led the Avalanche to the 2001 Stanley Cup.
The Flames also announced associate coach Jacques Cloutier has been fired.
Calgary, which finished third in the Pacific Division in 2014-15, allowed a League-high 257 goals this season, despite finishing 11th in shots-against per game (29.0). They went from a plus-24 goal differential in 2014-15 to minus-28 this season.
Goaltenders Karri Ramo and Jonas Hiller, Calgary's combination in 2014-15, struggled this season.
Ramo, who was placed on waivers and sent to the American Hockey League in October, went 17-18-1 with a 2.63 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in 37 games. He sustained a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee Feb. 11. Hiller had a 3.51 GAA and .879 SV% in 26 games, the worst numbers of his NHL career.
"Obviously goaltending is something we've talked about here ad nauseam over the season," general manager Brad Treliving said April 11. "It's a priority for us. I think you can get fooled a little bit with some of the wins down the stretch. Those are dangerous evaluation games when there's zero on the line. Having said that, you finish 10 points out of a playoff spot and in some of the categories, where would we be if we were in the middle in the pack or above? Goaltending is obviously a priority for us."
While the goaltending struggled, the Flames' young players continued to develop. Forward Johnny Gaudreau, 22, led Calgary and tied for sixth in the League with 78 points. Center Sean Monahan had a career-high 63 points in his third NHL season.
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton, 22, had his best NHL offensive season with 12 goals and 43 points. Defenseman TJ Brodie, 25, had six goals and an NHL career-best 45 points.
The Flames have 11 picks in the 2016 NHL Draft, starting with the No. 6 pick in the first round. They also could have as many as three second-round picks.
"We love the group of prospects at the spot we're drafting [in the first round]," Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke told Sportsnet at the 2016 NHL Draft Lottery on Saturday. "I think we're in good shape on the blue line, but our goaltending wasn't good enough and our special teams weren't good enough."
The Flames were 22nd in the League on the power play (17.0 percent) and last in penalty killing (75.5 percent).
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